One person is dead after a Cessna crashed in a field just south of Los Banos Municipal Airport in Merced County, California, on Tuesday evening.

According to the accident report, the pilot, operating a 2004 Cessna 172S Skyhawk, took off from Jose-Reid-Hillview Airport around 3:11 pm. About forty minutes later, ADS-B data shows the pilot entering an erratic flight path, continuously circling the area.

ABC30 spoke with a man who said he heard distress calls over a radio scanner, where the pilot was reporting he had lost control of his Cessna and was at half fuel. Two other aircraft tried to assist the Cessna by flying close by and trying to comfort the pilot over the radio.

The aircraft continued in a circular pattern for nearly three hours before crashing down in a field, just a short di

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